Beaches are commonly subject to the attack of sea waves. This phenomenon has brought about enormous soil erosion to beaches and subsequently the permanent damage of these beaches. Beach erosion would not only mean the destruction of the otherwise useful land, but has indeed become a threat to the safety of property and human life.
Beach erosion are therefore become a matter of great concern for both the relevant government authorities as well as for the private individuals whose property and livelihoods are being threatened by the continuous harassment of strong tidal waves. This has incurred hundreds of millions of dollars spent to repair damaged beaches through the installation of different kinds of erosion control structure with the objective to arrest further damages thereof. However, the expenditure of such a huge sum is simply beyond the budget of many authorities and private individuals.
A few common methods have been used to reduce soil erosion at beaches caused by sea waves. One of them is by constructing a vertical concrete wall along the affected shoreline, serving as a shield and protecting the property concerned against the direct impact of the oncoming sea waves. This method is unsatisfactory because structurally, said concrete wall itself simply could not take on the direct impact by the oncoming sea waves and would soon be demolished.
Another common practice to reduce soil erosion at beaches is by the piling of mangrove wood piles along the shoreline concerned. Due to the physical limitations of such timber piles, the subsequent structure installed would not possess adequate strength to resist the continuous bombardment by the sea waves. In fact, there have been numerous incidences in which the timber piles are destroyed almost immediately after they are built and washed away by tidal waves hence failed to protect the shoreline concerned.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,489 has proposed a method to check soil erosion at beaches using waste tyres. Said tyres are made in float near the beach and arranged in a manner that they collectively serve as a barrier system to size down the energy of the oncoming sea waves. This method however involves the utilization of a large number of tyres and is therefore not practical. Further, waste tyres are not environmentally friendly and would cause pollution to beaches and their surroundings if drifted stray.
Both the prior arts disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,215 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,386,250 involve massive and expensive installations. Moreover, these prior arts require a reasonably high degree of technology sophistication to build and therefore would likely to pose technical problems to the installers. The private individuals or even public authorities would be deterred from being involved in such soil erosion control projects due to the reasons mentioned above.
It is therefore, the main object of the present invention to provide a soil erosion control structure for beaches that is economical to manufacture, easy to install and can be maintained with low cost. It is also the primary purpose of the invention to ensure that the material used for the manufacture of the invention is easily available and environmentally friendly.
It is also the intention of the invention that it is applicable in other similar erosion control situations caused by the negative effect of other natural forces such as river current and rain water. The invention can therefore be used to control soil erosion in general. It therefore provides a suitable option for public authorities as well as private individuals when considering building a soil erosion infrastructure at beaches or in other relevant places.
The above and further objects of the invention will become apparent after consideration of the following description of the invention and its preferred embodiments detailed hereinafter.